Maybe, like me, you have a long history of backyard gardening. Maybe you've dabbled with a few tomato plants or lovingly planted your marigolds and geraniums in the (hopefully warm enough) earth over Memorial Day weekend. Perhaps you've planted trees and ornamental shrubs and even successfully tended a full-fledged vegetable garden for years, wrestling that cranky old Rototiller back and forth across your plot as soon as mud season looked to be drying up. All this experience will be helpful if you decide to join the ranks of the community gardeners on Birch Street in Concord (located off Clinton Street, heading out toward Interstate 89) but trust me: gardening here will be different!
First, as the proud recipient of your new allotment (that's Brit-speak for your plot) you must pinpoint which of the 184 rectangles is yours. You wish it might be one of those beautifully landscaped plots you see, complete with raised beds or interesting structures, but alas, yours is most likely one whose grade-stakes marking the boundaries are barely discernible amid the tangle of 4-foot weeds and grass. But don't despair, as it would be surprising if at least one of your garden neighbors didn't pop over to introduce herself, suggest a person who can eliminate those weeds for a reasonable rate, and offer advice, extra seedlings and a cold beverage – all the things that a good neighbor provides. Make no mistake, you have just moved into a neighborhood.
Living in this community garden neighborhood can be hugely rewarding, and I'm not just talking about the produce. The Concord Community Garden has been around for more than 35 years, and there are many gardeners who have been tilling the soil there for decades. I have yet to meet one who is not willing and even eager to share their know-how and resources. Listen to them! These 9-plus acres present challenges you probably didn't encounter in your backyard. The many years of intense cultivation have spawned a legion of noxious weeds (hedge bind-weed is a particularly nasty example), blights and insects that usually don't overwhelm the home garden. John's Colorado potato beetles will happily migrate to your plot when they're done chomping his potatoes to the ground, and that Septorium blight on Sarah's tomato plants will be making the rounds as well. Theft and vandalism occasionally rear their ugly heads, and hauling water really makes me whine!
But more likely, Mary will offer you some extra broccoli plants and onion sets she's been babying along. Steve will leave you a new variety of heirloom tomatoes he's trying this year. Becky will help you lay the black plastic on your newly-tilled soil (essential to keeping it from reverting to that scary mass of weeds you inherited). Karen will meander over to say hey, and volunteer some extra asparagus roots she can't fit in. In fact, she says you'll be doing her a favor by taking them. How neighborly is that?
And how about the walkers, joggers, bikers, bird-watchers, dog-walkers, sun-worshippers and the just plain curious you will routinely see along Birch Street throughout the growing season? They always seem to be in a good mood, enjoying that little slice of nature between Clinton Street and Iron Works Road. (I'm lucky: My garden is right on the road, so these people have become part of my social network.)
If you need a suggestion on combating voles (you probably will!), you can ask the experts, your neighbors. Run out of stakes, fencing, tomato cages, zucchini seeds? Have no fear. Your neighbors will probably lend it, direct you to the cheapest place to buy it or show you a cool way to fake it. You are now part of a new community, where you share with your neighbors some of the essentials of human existence: the desire to grow and nurture living things, working toward a common goal, belonging and sharing. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!
For more info on the Concord Community Garden, contact Oscar Johnson, 271-2214, Citizens' Garden Program, Division of Forests and Lands, New Hampshire Department of Resources and Economic Development. Plots are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
Lorna Austin gardens on her community garden plot in Concord. To build your gardening skills and learn about building strong, health soil, join the Capital Area Organic Gardeners on April 18 at 7 p.m. at the Grace Episcopal Church in East Concord. For more information,visit ccognh.wordpress.com.
